Erika Fatland - High: A Journey Across the Himalayas Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China

High

Erika Fatland

A journey across the Himalayas
through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China

Translated from the Norwegian by
Kari Dickson

First published in the Norwegian language as Hyt: En Reise i Himalaya by Kagge Forlag, Oslo, in 2020

First published in Great Britain in 2022 by

MacLehose Press

An imprint of Quercus Editions Limited

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

An Hachette UK company

Copyright 2020 Kagge Forlag AS

English translation copyright 2022 by Kari Dickson

All photographs Erika Fatland

Picture section layout Richard Carr

Maps Audun Skjervy

This translation has been published with the financial support of NORLA

The moral right of Erika Fatland to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Kari Dickson asserts her moral right to be identified as the translator of the work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

EBOOK ISBN 978 1 52941 690 9

www.maclehosepress.com

Sovietistan (2019)

The Border (2020)

For my adventurous grandparents:

Solfrid Grnnestad

Erik Bessen Grnnestad (died 2019)

&

Ragnhild Fatland

Ole Fatland (died 2020)

FIRST STAGE

China

.Brand new past: Kashgars famous Old Town is in fact a recently constructed set, where everything that appears to be old is new and built for the future.

.Smooth as silk to Pakistan: the Karakoram Highway is part of the New Silk Road the future lifeline for Chinas trade with the rest of the world.

Pakistan

.North Pakistan: author as novelty.

.Colourful freight transport: decorative Pakistani trucks waiting for freight from China.

.One of the countless landslides on my travels: stop, get out of the vehicle and watch the clear-up operation with crossed arms.

.Viewpoint in Karimabad: some viewpoints have better views than others.

.The Fairy Meadows: wild polo match at dusk. The British colonial rulers liked the sport so much that they took it home with them.

.Juglot: two important rivers and the worlds three largest mountain ranges meet here. The Karakoram Mountains can be seen on the left side of the Gilgit River, and the Himalayas are on the right side of the Indus River. The Hindu Kush can be seen to the far left.

.The Kalash women are not required to cover up. I got a warm welcome from Zaina.

.The two local pop stars, Amrina and Ariana (in the centre), surrounded by loyal fans and friends.

.New outfit for the harvest festival.

.Recently restored calm: thanks to the work of Italian archaeologists, the Buddha of Swat, one of the largest in the world, is once again whole and well after it was blown up by the Taliban in 2007.

.Peshawar: this old man still missed his real home in Kashmir, which he had not seen since the border was drawn in 1947. On the right: street picture with traces of former glory.

India

.Kashmir: the floating vegetable market in Srinagar

.Kashmir: If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.

.The Golden Temple in Amritsar.

.Haji Hassan has stayed in the same place, despite the wars that have come and gone and the borders that have moved back and forth.

.Regimented in death: the Indian military cemetery in Drass, a memorial to the first war between two nuclear powers in the history of the world.

.The Spiti Valley in India, Little Tibet: the road into the valley is, if possible, even more dramatic than the scenery.

.Altitude with attitude: all the roads were closed and the valley was cut off by unexpected extreme weather in the region.

.A young boy on the threshold of monastery life.

.The author chose not to share this photograph with her family until she had returned from the Spiti Valley.

.Mini nuns reading diligently during morning prayers.

.The Fab Four: spiritual tourism in Rishikesh. The maharishi was not there when the mural was painted.

.The young Ganges flows down to the lowlands: sunset ceremony in Hardiwar.

.A pilgrim washes himself in the clean, ice-cold water.

.Royal hospitality: Semla, the former princess of Sikkim.

Bhutan

.During the day, the dances are performed by monks in clothes. At night, things get wilder.

.Universal characters: the Clown...

.... and Death.

.Loneliness in ambient lighting: young men in Mongar sing karaoke for absent women.

.Darts as an action sport: archery is Bhutans national sport, but darts is not far behind, at number two.

.Double hospitality: Two happy sisters in Merak.

.The enormous Buddha outside Thimpu welcomes visitors to the city with huge serenity.

.The phallus is a remarkably common symbol in Bhutan.

.On the edge between beauty and destruction: the Tigers Nest, one of the most sacred temples in the Himalayas, clings to the mountainside.

.The peculiar takin, Bhutans national animal, is a goat antelope, or gnu goat. The outside world thought for a long time that it was a mythical beast, like the yeti.

India

.King for a new era: Towei Phawang, angh of the Konyak people, in his house that straddles the IndiaMyanmar border.

.Apatani women from the Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh.

SECOND STAGE

Nepal

.Kathmandu Valley: the goddess inhabits them. Matina (above left), royal kumari 20082017; Chanira (below), kumari 20002010, and Dhana (above right), who never stopped being a living goddess.

.Death machine: Everest Base Camp, 5,364 MSL. The treacherous Khumbu Icefall, which all the climbers have to navigate on their way up to the Holy Mother, can be seen behind the enormous camp on a black glacier.

.Necessary companions: everything has to be carried up on tired backs.

.Living military legends: the Brigade of Gurkhas. Hopeful aspirants.

.More than seven hundred temples and historical monuments were damaged by the earthquake in 2015. The extensive restoration work will take many years yet.

.Angel Lama proud winner of Nepals first trans beauty contest.

7.This goat kid will have a short life.

.In another world: possessed by the gods, shamans dance for the people of Turmakhad.

.Local reformer: Shoudana, the shaman in Simikot, has reduced the number of days that women have to sleep in a menstruation hut from nine to five.

China

.The border: Upper Mustang to the left and Tibet to the right of the barbed-wire fence.

.Tibet: high-altitude and barren, with one of the driest climates in Asia. The photograph is from the area that was once the Guge kingdom.

.Reverent prayer at the journeys end: two Indian pilgrims arrive at Lake Manasarovar, which is so holy that its water can wash away the sins of a hundred lives.

.Thousands of pilgrims from all over Tibet meet at the holy Mount Kailash to see the flag pole being raised during Saga Dawa, in the holiest of all months. These women have with them prayer flags and prayer wheels.